Recap Day 2: In Which Emma has Meltdown Over Tacos

 

Today was our first school/work day since taking our 40 day pledge.  The potential for failure is always exponentially greater when scheduling comes into play. So I consider us extremely lucky that there is no goaling training, Brownies, teenager work schedule ...all potential Monday things.  There is only a play date to manuever around.  Yeah! 
The Menu as stated previously was simple and took maximum advantage of my organic coop's biweekly share.  We began with a mixed green salad of NY, PA and NJ organic baby watercress, baby spinach and romaine.  I dressed mine with a Toasted Sesame Wasabi Vinagrette.  Along with the salad was an old family favorite, my grandmother's depression era Green Bean Soup.  I have never blogged this recipe as it seems really too simple to write down.  Basically all you do is boil fresh green beans in about 2 quarts of water until they are no longer bright green and the water has begun to take on the flavor of the beans (maybe 20 minutes or so).  In another seperate pot whisk together some Non -Dairy Sour Cream* (or dairy you heathens) with 2 tablespoons of flour.  Gradually ladle in the broth from cooking the green beans whisking to prevent any lumps.  Keep adding in the broth until you get a nicely flavored, white broth.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked beans into your broth and reheat slowly over low heat -No need to worry about curdling unless you foolishly used the dairy sour cream and then you will need to be careful.  Add some salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and there you go! This  of course sounds as though there is no way this could be a good soup, but you will have to trust me on this as I have never made this for anyone and had them not like it.  Not even my soup hating youngest child.  The final element of this meal was drop biscuits.  You may notice as the days go on that I am a fequent maker/server of quick or flat breads and let me tell you why...they taste great, kids love to help make them and homemade allows you to fill them with whole grains and goodness.  There really is no reason why anyone needs to buy those god awful tubes of processed frankendoughs put out by that cute little doughboy.  Seriously!  The only ingredients in biscuits are flour,salt,baking soda, baking powder, a fat (coconut oil, trans fat free margarine or shortening) and a milk (non dairy mixed with apple cider vinegar for me).  They bake in 10 minutes.  By the time I have finished struggling with a vacuum packed nightmare, I could have easily mixed the homemade dough ingredients together and shared a bonding experience with my youngest child to boot.
Which brings me to the meltdown....
The only hitch in our dinner table this evening was one I nearly missed..  When my husband went to pick up  my two youngest children from their play date it turns out their friend's family was having tacos for dinner.  Emma balked at coming home for soup (she will sometimes claim to hate all soups..this is simply not true).  She proceeded to demand that tacos be served one night this week as she tearily sat at the table.  Within minutes the storm had passed and it was smooth sailing.  (hmmmm tacos...one more reason to get that tortilla press).  My oldest was too sick to join us for dinner but Sean our usual holdout hovered nearby.  So all in all I would call tonight another success. 

Day Three's menu will be takeout or leftovers as it will be hella busy and even includes a school board election and ice cream social.  Dinner time TBD.

Sean's Food Fact of the Day:  Hammonton, NJ is the blueberry capital of the world.  This local signature crop gave me one heck of a bright purple smoothie for breakfast this morning.

*  There are brands of store bought non-dairy sour cream but it is beyond easy to make and there are numerous recipes available.  They all use a variation of blended silken tofu, lemon or lime juice, vinegar and spices with oil then emulisfied into the mixture using your blender.  I use the one from here The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak which contains amazing recipes for home made non dairy cheese and sauces.  This is a great resource for vegan or dairy free cooking.

Comfort Food: Brunch for Dinner

In my house breakfast or brunch for dinner is greeted by unanimous applause.  My kids would eat nothing but breakfast foods and I can't quite wrap my head around pancakes, quiche and omelettes until afternoon...so this is a perfect arrangement we got going.  The dinner in question this evening is the sensational Classic Broccoli Quiche from Vegan Brunch(by Isa Chandra Moscowitz) with a side salad my 11 year old son demanded it needed to go with it.  Now you may question quiche as comfort food but let me tell you a couple reasons why it is so for me. 1.  When I was growing up, some of my first "big girl" lunch dates with my mom were at the Magic Pan and other cafe type places.  And while my big sister whined we had to go there for crepes and ordered a burger...Barb I love you anyway...I had my first quiche.  So it does have childhood memories for me.  2.  It will have childhood memories for my kids because it was one of the first things they ate having a vegetarian--at the time mother--who needed dinner on the table fast!  To this day this isn't much I can't hide in a quiche whether it be tofu (of course now that I am vegan) or brocolli (the bane of my youngest's existence), cut or pureed in small enough pieces with yummy flavors and poured into a pie crust, it truly is "all good"!  3.  If you can find a vegan premade crust, and own a food processor, you can have this bad boy, or girl in the oven in about 10 minutes.  It also shares the casserole magic of being in one dish and taking long enough to cook that you can be virtually cleaned up by the time it hits the table.  Heaven!
So I leave you at the end of this comfort food week with Brocolli Quiche.  A well loved favorite.  And I even followed Isa's advice and decorated with cherry tomatoes to truly bring it back to my youth!  Enjoy!

Comfort Food: Slowcooker Stroganoff

Stroganoff
Originally uploaded by jomarb

Sometimes food just feels right, tastes right and since it is practically waiting for you when you walk in the door--is right. That doesn't always mean it's pretty, but beauty is more than photo deep. Case in point is the Slow Cooker Stroganoff....I hear a collective giggle from the PPKers and must admonish you all to get your minds out of the gutter! This is a Robin Robertson recipe from her Vegetarian Slowcooker cookbook and it rocks. My only substitution is fresh edame for greenbeans because it's what I had on hand. You basically brown a bunch of mushrooms, saute some onion and pepper together with spices and flour. Place the cooked onion and pepper mixture in the crockpot with tomatoes and your green vegetable and let it cook all day. When you get home, you toss in the mushrooms and turn up the heat on the slow cooker. Cook some noodles (I used rhombi cause of the cute shape and name). And stir in some vegan sourcream just before serving on the cooked noodles. Couldn't be easier or cosier for a cool fall night. I highly recommend this cookbook in general for busy people. The title says vegetarian but it is basically a vegan cookbook with the few recipes that include dairy products listing the vegan alternative. Some of the recipes are not really fix it and forget it workday things and get into fancier weekend or holiday menus but alll taste great and make the dishes simpler by not having to watch pots or worry about exact timing of cooking. This is a family favorite and brings me back to childhood dinners without all the animal cruelty. Enjoy! And really...go buy that book!

Comfort Foods: GG Bertha's Stuffed Cabbage

Stuffed Cabbage is a memory of my childhood and my Grandmother who was one of the best cooks I have ever known.  She never wrote down a recipe or used a cookbook and sure as heck would not have known what to make of a blog. I did manage to get her to give me some of her secrets before she died several years ago at the age of 101.  This is my attempt to veganize her stuffed cabbage recipe, she will hopefully forgive me for some of the ingredients switches and suggestions.  I should warn you that making stuffed cabbage is not for the faint of heart.  It is not a work day meal.  It is pretty labor intensive and while I take shortcuts like cooking it in a slow cooker rather than all day braising, it still takes some time.  But man if you were raised in a household of Hungarian or Eastern European descent, you know it's worth it!

GG Bertha's Stuffed Cabbage

What you need:

1 head of cabbage

The equivalent of 1 lb of meat substitute  (I have used chopped steamed tempeh, TVP reconstituted as burger crumbles or even Boca Burger in a pinch)

2 1/2 cups of grain you wish to use for binding (I have used sushi rice, barley and kasha all to equally delicious effect)

1 small onion chopped

1 small carrot chopped finely or grated

2 tbs of Olive Oil

Salt, Black Pepper and Hungarian Paprika all to taste

28oz can of crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup of brown sugar (this is where GG will disown me...no sugar allowed in hers!)

1. To a large soup pot add about 2 inches of water and a steamer rack and place on stovetop to boil.

2.  Core your head of lettuce and remove the tough outer leaves.

3.  When water is boiling, place cabbage head core side down on steamer rack and cover pot.

4.  Allow the cabbage to steam for about 10 minutes or until leaves are tender.

5.  When cabbage is cool enough to handle, remove tender leaves from outer layer.  Should you run into leaves that are still tough before reaching the inner leaves that are too small for stuffing, you may need to resteam your cabbage for 5-10 more minutes.  When cabbage leaves are removed from head, place to the side until you have made the stuffing mixture.

6.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

7.  Saute onions and carrots until soft.

8.  Add your meat substitute of choice and saute until browned and well combined with veggies.

9.  Place "meat" mixture in a large bowl.

10.  Add the cooked grain of choice to the "meat" and mix well.

11. Season mixture to taste with spices.

12.  Take cabbage leaves and lay them in front of you so the curl upward and the rib of the leaf faces you.

13.  If the rib is large and prevents easy rolling, remove with a paring knife.

14.  Place about 1/2 cup of stuffing mixture in middle of cabbage leaf and roll "burrito style" tucking in ends as you go.

15.  Place the cabbage roll seam side down in your slow cooker which has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

16.  Repeat with remaining cabbage leaves and stuffing.

17.  When all cabbage rolls are in slow cooker you can chop any remaining cabbage into small shreds and place on top of cabbage rolls in slow cooker.  If you have no left over cabbage you can also top the rolls with sauerkraut.

18.  In a small bowl, mix together tomatoes, vinegar and brown sugar.

19.  Pour tomato mixture over cabbage rolls in slow cooker and cover.

20.  Cook on high setting for 6 hours.

And that's it!  Enjoy my childhood memories!